Wound tube with string loop



Unite States Patet lnventors Charles K. Dunlap, Jr.

1108 Goodson Road; Hurley R. Brool-tlng, P. O. Box 814, Hartsville, South Carolina 29550 Appl. No. 876,302 Filed Nov. 13, 1969 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 751,980, Aug. 12, 1968, now Patent No. 3,51 1,281.

WOUND TUBE WllTH STRING LOOP 8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

Int. Cl F161 55/00 Field of Search 40/ 309 Primary Examiner-Fred C. Mattern, llr. Assislanr {Zxqminep- R J. Sher V A ltorney- Parrott, Bell, Seltzer, Park and Gibson ABSTRACT: A multi-ply paper tube of fibrous material with the plies wound in overlying relationship, preferably either spirally or convolutely, with adhesive therebetween and having the end portions of a string loop positioned and retained between the plies to provide a tag attaching loop extending outwardly from one end of the tube.

Patented Oct. 6, 1970 INVENTORSI CHARLES $4. bum.

AP.,I2. and HLJELEY E. EDEOOKWG B wmkaquwwxm Ill 111,11, y, 1111) ATTORNEYS WOUND TUBE WITH STRING LOOP This is a continuation in-part of copending application Ser. No. 751,980, now Pat. No. 3,511,281 filed Aug 12, 1968. The invention relates to a wound tube and more particularly to such a tube having a string loop for attaching a tag or the like.

Multi-ply wound tubes are in common use today for winding sheet material such as paper, cloth, plastic and the like and such tubes are generally formed of paper strips spirally or convolutely wound in overlying relationship with adhesive therebetween to form a continuous multi-ply tube which is severed into suitable lengths to form wound tubes or cores on the outer surface of which sheet material is wound. In the use of such wound tubes as a core or carrier for cloth or the like, it is highly desirable to provide some means for identifying the specific material wound on the core, such sheet material generally being manufactured in a wide variety of types, composition, color etc. It has been found that indicia carrying tags are one of the most suitable ways for sheet material identification and by providing a string loop on such tubes to'which the tag may be attached, ready identification of the packaged sheet material may be obtained. However, the only satisfactory arrangement in present day use for attaching such tag carrying loops to tubes is to provide a hole in the tube wall by punching or the like which permits a loop of string to be strung through the hole for subsequent attachment of the tag to the loop. It can be easily seen that since such tubes are produced in large quantities at a high production rate, particularly spiral or convolute tubes, the extra operation of punching holes in such tubes as well as attaching string loops to the tubes through such holes require additional time and labor as well as requiring additional machinery generally quite complicated in construction adding considerably to the production costs for such tubes.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a new and novel tube having a string loop securely attached thereto.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and novel tube having a string loop which may be fixedly secured to the tube during the tube manufacturing operation.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a new and novel multi-ply paper tube having a string loop attached thereto which eliminates the need for punching loop attaching holes in the tubewall and which permits the loop to be fixedly secured to the tube simultaneously with the tube manufacturing operation.

This invention further provides a new and novel wound paper tube having a string loop attached thereto for tag carrying purposes which enables the loop to be automatically secured to the tube without interruption in tube production and with a minimum of additional machinery and which permits the production of such a tube at a high rate and with vir tually no increase in the cost of the tube and in which the loop is securely retained on the tube so as to strongly resist separation of the loop during use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

The objects stated above and other related objects are accomplished by providing a multi-ply paper tube wound from a plurality of strips of fibrous material arranged in overlying relationship with adhesive therebetween. A folded length of strand material is provided, the free ends of which are disposed between a pair of adjacent overlying plies in retained relationship therewith with a continuous portion of the folded length of strand material extending outwardly from the tube to form a tag attaching loop.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which;

FIG. I is a perspective view ofa portion of a spirally wound tube constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of a convolutely wound tube constructed in accordance with this invention; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in both FIGS. 1 and 4 a tube T having an end 10 which is wound or formed from a plurality of strips of fibrous material such as paper with the strips being arranged in overlying relationship with adhesive therebetween. In the illustrated embodiments, the tube T has a side wall 11 which incorporates a plurality of plies I2- 14 wound upon themselves with adhesive therebetween.

As illustrated in the drawings, the tube T of FIG. 1 is a spirally wound tube in which each of the plies 12, 13 and 14 is spirally wound in overlapping relationship in a manner well understood by those with ordinary skill in the art to form an outer spiral seam I7. Adhesive is positioned between the plies during the spiral winding operation so as to retain the plies in the spirally wound condition for the forming of the tube T.

The tube T of FIG. 4 is a convolutely wound tube in which the plies 12, 13 and 14 are convolutely wound on each other in superimposed condition to form a longitudinally extending seam 30. Likewise, adhesive is placed between the plies during the convolute winding operation so as to maintain the plies in the wound condition.

As specifically illustrative of the invention, a folded length of strand material such as conventional twine or string designated generally by the numeral 21 is provided which has free ends 21a, 21b. As shown, the string free ends 21a, 21b are positioned inadjacent relationship and are disposed between a pair of adjacent overlying plies of the tube T. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the string ends 21a, 2112 are disposed between the outer ply l4 and underlying ply 13 in retained relationship therewith with the remaining continuous portion of the string 21 forming a loop L extending exteriorly of the tube outer surface 18 through the outer spiral seam 17. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the string ends 21:: and 21b, are disposed between the intermediate ply 13 and the inner ply 12 in retained relationship with the remaining portion of the string 21 forming a loop L extending exteriorly of the tube end 10.

It can be understood that as a result of the above conventional spiral and convolute winding operations employed in the manufacture of tube T of FIGS. 1 and 4, both the adhesive between the plies 12, 13 and 14 and the tightly wound condition of these plies securely retain the string free ends 21a, 21b therebetween resisting any pulling force exerted on the loop L such as might occur during attachment of the tag thereto or inadvertently. Furthermore, the string free ends 21a, 21b are directed towards the center of the tube T so that any pulling force exerted on the loop L will be resisted throughout the length of the string free ends as well as eliminating any tendency to peel back the outer ply 14 adjacent the seam 17 at the location where the string ends 21a, 21b project through the seam 17. It will be noted that the string 21 is preferably positioned adjacent one of the tube ends, such as tube end 10, so that the loop L will extend outwardly and downwardly from the tube end 10 when sheet material such as cloth is wound on the tube outer surface 18.

It can be seen that in the manufacture of the tube of the invention, the spiral tube T of FIG. 1 or convolute tube T of FIG. 4 may be wound in the conventional manner by winding paper strips on an elongated mandrel (not shown)'to form a continuous spiral or convolute tube which is subsequently cut into lengths forming tubes such as tube T. Immediately prior to the winding of the plies around the winding mandrel, adhesive having been introduced between the plies such as by coating the outer surfaces thereof, the free ends 21a, 21b of the string 21 are positioned on the outer surface of one of the plies and subsequently covered by an outer ply as shown to provide the loop L for subsequent tag attachment. Thus, the tube T has the loop L secured thereto for subsequent use as a core for sheet material such as cloth or the like with the loop L being available for subsequent attachment of an identification tag or the like to identify the cloth wound on the tube T.

While there have been provided what at present are considered to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention.

We claim:

1. A wound tube having an attached loop comprising, in combination, a plurality of plies of fibrous material wound in overlying relationship with adhesive therebetween, a folded length of strand material having adjacent portions disposed between a pair of adjacent overlying plies in retained relationship therewith and having a continuous portion of said folded length of strand material extending exteriorly of said tube to form a loop.

2. A tube in accordance with claim 1 wherein said loop is positioned adjacent one end of said tube.

3. A tube in accordance with claim 1 wherein said folded length of strand material is provided with a pair of free ends, said free ends being disposed in side-by-side relationship between said wound plies with the remaining continuous portion of said folded length of strand material projecting outwardly from said plies to form said loop.

4. A tube in accordance with claim 3 wherein said free ends extend towards the center of said tube.

5. A wound tube having an attached loop comprising, in combination, a plurality of plies of fibrous material convolutely Wound in overlying relationship with adhesive therebetween, a folded length of strand material having adjacent portions disposed between a pair of adjacent overlying plies in retained relationship therewith and a continuous portion of said folded length of strand material extending exteriorly of said tube to form a loop.

6. A tube in accordance with claim 5 wherein said loop is positioned and extends from one end of said tube.

7. A tube in accordance with claim 5 wherein said folded length of strand material is provided with a pair of free ends, said free ends being disposed in side-by-side relationship between said wound plies with the remaining continuous portion of said folded length of strand material projecting outwardly from one of the ends of said tube to form said loop.

8. A tube in accordance with claim 7 wherein said free ends extend towards the center of said tube. 

